The Halloween Story
by Matt Smith
Summary: Detective Everwood will face his true horrors on this dark night.


**The Halloween Story**

_That she suggested I write, and so, I did; that's how influential she is to me._

The following story takes place in Central Florida (just because it's where I live), at around 11:30 PM on Halloween Night. We all know how Halloween works. The kids (and so adults) get dressed up, with their little candy buckets, and they go out and collect candy from their neighbors and plenty of strangers.

Sounds exciting, as always. In addition to the basic Halloween activities, you have others, such as Halloween horror nights at Universal Studios. This is the more precise location at which our story takes place. We follow our lead character, Connor Everwood, a detective and Special Forces member that is tracking down a murderer.

But what Everwood finds is much more than a simple murderer.

Detective Connor Everwood passed through the gates of Universal Studios, and entered the park. It was creepy, Everwood admitted, but hardly scary in terms of the title 'Horror Nights'. The actors and actresses that lunged and jumped out at him were more of an annoyance than anything else. He scoped the situation out as he moved through the crowds of people.

This was the perfect place to commit a murder; everyone was screaming already. Half the crowd looked like they were dead as it was, and not to mention the décor' about the place; graves, fake blood, body parts and whatever else the studio could think of to scare the crap out of poor folks that were looking for a good scare.

And that's when he saw it. The fat round head of the man he'd been tracking. He was wanted for over 35 murders in over 6 states. _Well, Florida is the end of the line for you buddy. _Everwood placed his hand on his pistol holster and unclasped it. He was taking no chances. This man was dangerous. As he approached the spot where he'd seen the man last, just moments ago, He peered around the corner of what seemed to be an empty sort of bar saloon.

It was dark and there was fog on the ground. Probably artificial fog, but it gave the creepy effect nonetheless. He stepped out and moved down the path, leaning against the wall of the saloon, alert for any movement. The path was leading him away from the main Horror nights celebration. Everwood drew his side arm and gripped it tightly as he moved down the path; the sounds of the celebration behind him getting softer and softer.

He reached the end of the saloon and found himself staring at a fenced off area, leading out to the highway; out of the theme park. Then he saw it. Bloody shoe prints. The led through the fence and down to a drainage ditch by the road. Everwood checked his ammo and then proceeded to follow the prints. Unbeknownst to him, something moved quickly behind him, almost stalking him.

He reached the drainage ditch, as cars flew by on the roadside. Peering down into the ditch he saw a large tunnel, probably leading down into the sewers. What the hell would the fool go into the sewers for? Everwood took out his radio. "This is Detective Everwood. I need backup just off of Hollywood rd. Over." He waited for a response from dispatch, but all he got was static.

He clipped the radio to his belt, muttering a curse word, and then proceeded down into the ditch and to the entrance of the tunnel. The bloody footprints continued inside, until Everwood could see nothing more except darkness. He took out his flashlight, and shinned it around the darkness as he entered the tunnel, following the foot prints.

He quickly reached the first of probably a few billion sewer lines in the city. He sighed, and looked for more signs that his suspect had moved through the pipe. Left or right? He asked himself. The prints had vanished, the sewer waters giving the suspect clearance to escape either direction. Then he heard it. The splashing. coming from the left. Everwood jumped into the water, his heart pounding.

He'd never get another chance like this to catch the bastard that killed those people. _His wife. His children. _It would end here. "Dead or alive." Everwood murmured to himself, as he rushed through the water. Suddenly his right foot jammed against something in the water and he fell - face first - into the waste deep water. He splashed around, frantically. _It's a trap! It's a trap! _He thought, as he forced himself up. He stood, frozen in the water, which was up to his waste again. Water dripped off of him, and was suddenly the only sound he heard.

He swallowed. Then he heard a whisper. Then another. And then dozen. The voices were all around him. He turned, frantically, sloshing around in the water, looking for who would make the whispers. He saw no one. Suddenly the voices went silent. He didn't even hear the sound of the water dripping from his body.

Then there was a roaring scream coming from the direction he'd been rushing to in the first place. It was a man's voice too. Everwood turned, and ran toward the sound, his heart pounding faster than ever in his entire life. He soon found himself standing in the entrance of a larger room. It appeared that he'd found his way to one of the sewage rooms, where the city could come and work on underground power lines, and piping among other things.

The only thing that sent the room off kilt was the fat round man hanging upside down in the center of it. Everwood quickly aimed his sidearm up and around the room. He wasn't really worried about the suspect. He didn't look like he was going to go anywhere for the time being.

He was more or less interested in _how _he got in the position he was in now. Everwood moved slowly into the room, the water level now only around his ankles. The room seemed to be clear of any actual hostiles. Everwood turned his attention to his suspect. That's when he realized, that the man wasn't actually tied up to the ceiling.

He was just... hanging in mid-air. _What the fuck? _Suddenly the man awoke with a loud yelp. He looked over at Everwood. "Please... please help me..." He begged. "Perhaps you could tell me just what the fuck is going on?" He replied, calmly. "I don't know... I was just..." The man now signed, and began to chuckle. "I was trying to get away. And something... I don't know what, lifted me up and hung me here..."

The man looked down at The detective. "Can you cut me down? PLEASE?"

"I would love to - trust me. I want to slap some cuffs on you. But the truth is, You aren't _tied_ up to the ceiling. You are being held up there in some other way."

"What the hell are you going on about? CUT ME LOOSE!"

"I can't!"

"Oh God..."

Everwood rolled his eyes. Now he was going to freak out. He hated this part. It meant listening to whining and complaining. "Please... just..." Suddenly he let out a painful scream as he was forced belly first against the ceiling. Everwood lifted his sidearm up, aiming at what, he was still unsure about. "Please... no! NO! AHHHH!" The man - as fat as he was - was getting thinner - and not by way of dieting or exercise either. More of the fact that he was being flattened against the ceiling. Slowly too. And with every passing second, his screams got louder, and more sickening. "HELP ME!"

Suddenly he was pulled back off the ceiling, flipped around, and with a loud yelp, slammed into the ground, causing the ankle deep water to splash up. Everwood rushed forward, and grabbed at the man, attempting to pull him up off the ground. But as he started to get some leeway, the man was slammed back down, and Everwood went flying backward into the wall behind him. Dazed, Everwood climbed to his feet, and picked up his sidearm. He raised it up, and let out a sharp whistle. Everything went silent, and his suspect went limp, face down in the water. "That's enough."

With those words, Everwood fired off several rounds at key points in the room, mainly around the round man. Suddenly the man lifted up, and started to lumber toward him. Everwood in turn, fired several shots into him, but he kept moving.

As he neared, Everwood pulled his arm back and put his fist into the man's face, knocking him back and to the ground. With his heart pounding, Everwood turned, as the floor began to rumble. Suddenly a man – about 6 foot, light skinned, dark eyes, moderate weight - appeared in front of him, and hissed, "Your fate will be the same as theirs!"

The ground gave way beneath the detective's feet, as the man vanished quickly, and Everwood went falling through the floor.

And then he saw darkness.

**THE END**

_A Special Thanks to All My Friends; Offline and Online. Ouida, Jared, Alice, Gordie, Kirsty, Jacob, Dustin, Shads, Laura, Nanna, Eric, Tim, and anyone else I may have missed. I honestly would not stay sane without you guys – So thank you. I look forward to the next forever and ever length of our friendships. _

_Happy Halloween. This story had the intentions of scaring you, though I'm positive it had no such effect. Worth a shot though, and I had a lot of fun with this really short story. It may become a Halloween tradition, and a real series, knowing me. Keep your eyes peels and your side-arms handy. And remember – anything you say or do may end up in my next novel._


End file.
